Managed Document Review, Privilege Logs and Quality Control

Managed Review With Fewer Documents and Better Calls

Review is where discovery budgets are won or lost, because every document that reaches a reviewer costs money and every inconsistent call costs credibility. Global Digital Forensics builds the review set on software we own, removing duplicates, system files and repeated threads before a reviewer sees them. We then staff, train and supervise the review with escalation queues and documented quality checks, so the coding record holds up when the production is questioned.

Get a Free Consultation Call (800) 868-8189

Bagged hard drive beside a forensic write blocker.

Review Budgets Are Lost When the Set Is Built

Review is the most expensive phase of discovery because it is the one measured in human hours. Every duplicate, every system file, every message that an untested search term swept in and every thread read five times instead of once is paid for at a reviewer’s rate, and every inconsistent coding call is paid for again when it has to be reconciled before production. Firms rarely lose control of review in the review room. They lose it upstream, when the set is built.

Global Digital Forensics prepares the review set as a forensic firm with its own software. Duplicate removal, threading, system file filtering and tested search terms happen in tools we own, so the volume that reaches reviewers is the volume the case needs. We then coordinate the reviewers, the protocol training, the escalation queues and the quality checks, and every coding call is recorded against the protocol rule it applied.

Before production we reconcile open escalations, excluded families, coding, redactions and the agreed privilege log fields, recording the approvals and the remaining exceptions so the receiving team can see what was resolved and what still needs a decision. The current Federal Rules of Evidence supply the privilege and waiver framework the protocol follows.

Before the reviewers are hired, bring the collection size and the protocol to a free initial consultation and we will show you how much of that volume the case actually needs.

Get a Free Consultation

Technical methods and scope

Add Review Capacity Without Giving Up Control

When document volume exceeds the internal team’s capacity, an agreed review plan adds people and structure without adding management work for the firm. We identify technical documents, language needs and sensitive issues early so the proposed team and supervision fit the material, and we confirm staffing, qualifications, specialists, platform access and the onboarding schedule before the first batch is assigned.

The matter plan names GDF project management and the supervising attorney, and the record shows who made each call, so nobody has to reconstruct who decided what when the production is questioned.

Review Technology Guided by the Practitioners Who Prepared the Data

Global Digital Forensics has practiced since 1992 and has prepared and run review for matters from a single custodian dispute to class actions with terabytes of data, for AmLaw 100 firms and for small businesses facing their first discovery demand. Managed review combines the confirmed functions of the hosting platform with trained reviewers, project coordination and documented checks, and the practitioners who prepared the data stay involved, so a question about why a document is in the set gets a technical answer the same day.

Because GDF owns its software, hosting and processing are planned around the matter, the volume, the reviewers, the access needs and the expected duration rather than around a license minimum. Technical flags, queues and draft privilege log fields speed supervised review, and qualified reviewers apply the coding protocol consistently across every batch.

Call (800) 868-8189 or send the discovery schedule to plan the work around it.

Match and Train the Review Team to the Material

The proposed team is matched to the review population and to confirmed qualifications in litigation support, document review and any legal or technical specialty the material requires. A focused privilege task calls for a small senior team, and a large commercial set calls for tiers, leads and dedicated quality reviewers. Staffing is confirmed for the matter in writing rather than assumed from a template.

Matter specific training precedes substantive coding and covers responsiveness, the applicable privilege grounds, redactions and escalation. We document completion and run consistency checks throughout the project, so departures from the review protocol are caught during review rather than discovered at production.

Privilege Review and Logs Built to Withstand Challenge

An inadvertent disclosure can become a privilege dispute, so the review record is built to show what was assessed, by whom and on what ground. Qualified legal reviewers assess communications with counsel, work product and documents with mixed purposes against the matter’s privilege grounds, and draft log entries record the agreed identifiers, dates, parties and proposed grounds for supervising counsel’s approval.

Where a Rule 502(d) order applies, the team follows counsel’s written clawback process and tracks items for potential notice. Sensitive personal, financial or trade secret material is flagged for the handling the attorneys direct, and the final privilege log is reconciled against the production before it goes out.

Tell us the review population, the protocol and the deadline and we will set out the team, the supervision and the volume reduction in writing before the first batch is assigned.

Get a Free Consultation Call (800) 868-8189

Quality Checks That Catch Inconsistency Before Production

The quality control plan states its review population, sampling method, sample size, selection rationale and the thresholds for correction and escalation. We record reviewer and category results, meaningful disagreements and protocol changes, and every sample is reported with the assumptions behind it, so the numbers can be defended.

The final quality review checks responsiveness coding, privilege log fields, redactions and unresolved escalations before export is approved. Results and corrections stay in the matter record, so the supervising attorneys can judge readiness against the protocol and answer for the review if it is ever questioned.

Want the quality control plan for your matter in writing before any batch is assigned? Call (800) 868-8189 and ask for it.

Methodology

From Collected Data to a Coded and Reconciled Review Record

Map the review population

We establish the sources, custodians, data types and dates behind the review set and agree on the protocol before batches are assigned.
Reduce the volume with GDF owned tools

Duplicate removal, threading, system file filtering and tested search terms take out what reviewers should never see, with every exclusion documented.
Review under the protocol

Trained reviewers code under counsel’s instructions, with escalation queues, progress reporting and consistency checks running throughout the project.
Reconcile and hand off

We reconcile coding, redactions, privilege log fields and open items, record approvals and exceptions and deliver the agreed review or production package with its audit record.

The data discovery case study follows these steps through a class action in which millions of documents had to be organized before review could begin.

Evidence commonly examined

Discovery material and review records we work with

Custodian and source inventories define the record population behind the review. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace material provides business communications and files, collaboration and messaging content needs its conversation relationships and attachments kept connected, and computers, phones and file shares add the local records within scope. Databases and structured systems can require agreed normalization and presentation, and the collection, processing and exception logs document how the set was prepared and which sources remain unresolved.

What you can expect

Your coded records, quality checks and progress reports

The review protocol records responsibilities, qualifications and staffing confirmed for the matter. Collection and processing records preserve the upstream methods included in the assignment, the exception and reconciliation report records unavailable items and remaining population questions, and the final package follows the agreed review or production specification with its approval record attached.

If you want these reports on a set cadence, say so when you request the free initial consultation and the reporting schedule goes into the matter plan.

Plan Review With the People Who Built the Set

Bring the review population, the protocol, the language needs and the deadline to a free initial consultation. We will set out the volume reduction, the staffing, the supervision and the quality checks the matter requires.

Ask which examiners would supervise the review and defend the coding record; the team is on the About page, and a data discovery case study shows the scale of review we have handled.

Get a Free Consultation

Frequently asked

Review Volume, Privilege Logs and Production Deadlines

What should we define before managed review begins?

Define the review population, the platform, the privilege workflow, the escalation route and the quality controls, and name the supervising attorney. The plan then records the technical and coordination tasks GDF carries.

How do you keep review volume and cost down?

By building the set with software GDF owns. Duplicate removal, threading, system file filtering and tested search terms happen before reviewers see a document, and hosting is scaled to the matter rather than to a platform minimum. The proposal itemizes the volume, the hosting term and the review charges before you commit.

Can you work with the review platform we already use?

Yes. Name the platform, the formats and the tasks your team keeps, and we will confirm compatibility, transfer methods and responsibilities before work begins. Where GDF hosting is the more economical route, we will say so and show you the comparison.

How are privilege calls and the privilege log handled?

Qualified legal reviewers assess documents against the matter’s privilege grounds, draft log entries record the agreed fields, and the log is reconciled against the production before it goes out. Where a Rule 502(d) order applies, the team follows the written clawback process.

What if the production deadline is approaching?

Call (800) 868-8189 with the deadline, the volume and the current status. We will discuss staffing availability, set priorities and propose a realistic sequence, and if the volume puts the date at risk, you hear it on that call.

Talk with an examiner

Bring Structure and Lower Volume to Your Document Review

Share the document volume, the coding instructions and the delivery deadline. We will discuss volume reduction, batch priorities, escalation routes and progress reporting with your supervising team.

GDF has operated since 1992 and offers court tested forensic expertise.

Talk with an examiner

Bring the Protocol and Collection Size to an Examiner

A free first call covers the collection size, the protocol and the deadline, an estimate of how much volume can come out before review, and the team, supervision and quality checks the matter needs.

Call (800) 868-8189 Get a Free Consultation

Discuss managed review at (800) 868-8189.

Reviewed by Joseph Caruso, Founder, CEO and CTO, CISSP. Last reviewed November 3, 2026.